JONES
,
JOHN
(
Myrddin Fardd
;
1836
-
1921
),
writer, antiquary, and collector of old letters and manuscripts
;
b. on a small homestead called
Tan-y-ffordd
, in the parish of
Llangïan
,
Llŷn, Caerns.
, son of
John
and
AnnOwen
. They had five children, three daughters and two sons, namely
OwenJones
(
Manoethwy
) (q.v.)
and >
JohnJones
(
Myrddin Fardd
). He m.
AnnJones
of the
Ynys
neighbourhood,
Eifionydd
, and their son was the
musicianOwenGough Jones
, who was
organist
of one of the
Birmingham
churches.
Myrddin Fardd
received his elementary education at
Foel-gron school
,
Mynytho
, and was later apprenticed in the
Plas-hen smithy
,
Llanystumdwy
. He subsequently worked as a
blacksmith
in various quarries in
Caernarvonshire
and
Merioneth
, and then in
Pandy smithy
,
Chwilog
, where he spent the greater part of his life. In his early days he took a great interest in poetry and in
1872
won £5 and a medal for a memorial to
DavidWilliams
of
Castell Deudraeth
(see under
Williams
family of
Bron Eryri
); this was in the
Eryri eisteddfod
. In
1861
he made a bid for the chair at the national eisteddfod held at
Conway
with an
awdl
, ‘
Mynyddoedd Eryri
,’ but the prize was won by
Gwilym Cowlyd
with
Myrddin
second. In the national eisteddfod held at
Caernarvon
in
1877
he won a prize for his work ‘
Enwogion Sir Gaernarfon
’, which was published in
1922
.

He was a diligent
researcher
: he examined many parish registers and walked hundreds of miles to hunt out inscriptions on tombstones and in churches. He also visited libraries such as the one at
Peniarth
in order to
copy the manuscripts and chronicles
of different localities; many of these copies were made over to
principalJ. H.Davies
of
Aberystwyth
and to
EdwardBreese
of
Portmadoc
(qq.v.). Most of his manuscripts and collections of letters are in the
N.L.W.
at
Aberystwyth
. He rendered great help to
Welshscholars
and
men of letters
towards the
end of the 19th cent. and beginning of the 20th.
He also contributed many valuable articles to the
Brython
(
Tremadoc
),
1858-63
;
Golud yr Oes
,
1866
, etc.;
Yr Haul
,
1866-76
;
Y Drysorfa
,
1885-90
;
Llais Rhyddid
;
Cymru (O.M.E.)
;
Y Llenor
(O.M.E.); and
Wales
(O.M.E.).